4506.09
Rules for qualification and testing of applicants.

(A)
The
registrar of motor vehicles, subject to approval by the director of public
safety, shall adopt rules conforming with applicable standards adopted by the
federal motor carrier safety administration as regulations under
Pub. L. No. 103-272, 108 Stat. 1014 to 1029 (1994),
49 U.S.C.A. 31301 to
31317. The rules shall establish
requirements for the qualification and testing of persons applying for a
commercial driver's license, which are in addition to other requirements
established by this chapter. Except as provided in division (B) of this
section, the highway patrol or any other employee of the department of public
safety the registrar authorizes shall supervise and conduct the testing of
persons applying for a commercial driver's license.

(B)
The director may adopt rules, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised
Code and applicable requirements of the federal motor carrier safety
administration, authorizing the skills test specified in this section to be
administered by any person, by an agency of this or another state, or by an
agency, department, or instrumentality of local government. Each party
authorized under this division to administer the skills test may charge a
maximum divisible fee of eighty-five dollars for each skills test given as part
of a commercial driver's license examination. The fee shall consist of not more
than twenty dollars for the pre-trip inspection portion of the test, not more
than twenty dollars for the off-road maneuvering portion of the test, and not
more than forty-five dollars for the on-road portion of the test. Each such
party may require an appointment fee in the same manner provided in division
(E)(2) of this section, except that the maximum amount such a party may require
as an appointment fee is eighty-five dollars. The skills test administered by
another party under this division shall be the same as otherwise would be
administered by this state. The other party shall enter into an agreement with
the director that, without limitation, does all of the following:

(1)
Allows the director or the director's representative and the federal motor
carrier safety administration or its representative to conduct random
examinations, inspections, and audits of the other party, whether covert or
overt, without prior notice;

(2)
Requires the director or the director's representative to conduct on-site
inspections of the other party at least annually;

(3)
Requires that all examiners of the other party meet the same qualification and
training standards as examiners of the department of public safety, including
criminal background checks, to the extent necessary to conduct skills tests in
the manner required by 49 C.F.R. 383.110 through 383.135. In accordance with
federal guidelines, any examiner employed on the effective date of this
amendment shall have a criminal background check conducted at least once, and
any examiner hired after July 1, 2015, shall have a
criminal background check conducted after the examiner is initially
hired.

(4)
Requires
either that state employees take, at least annually and as though the employees
were test applicants, the tests actually administered by the other party, that
the director test a sample of drivers who were examined by the other party to
compare the test results, or that state employees accompany a test applicant
during an actual test;

(5)
Unless the other party is a governmental entity, requires the other party to
initiate and maintain a bond in an amount determined by the director to
sufficiently pay for the retesting of drivers in the event that the other party
or its skills test examiners are involved in fraudulent activities related to
skills testing;

(6)
Requires
the other party to use only skills test examiners who have successfully
completed a commercial driver's license examiner training course as prescribed
by the director, and have been certified by the state as a commercial driver's
license skills test examiner qualified to administer skills tests;

(7)
Requires the other party to use designated road test routes that have been
approved by the director;

(8)
Requires the other party to submit a schedule of skills test appointments to
the director not later than two business days prior to each skills
test;

(9)
Requires
the other party to maintain copies of the following records at its principal
place of business:

(10)
If the
other party also is a driver training school, prohibits its skills test
examiners from administering skills tests to applicants that the examiner
personally trained;

(11)
Requires each skills test examiner to administer a complete skills test to a
minimum of thirty-two different individuals per calendar year;

(12)
Reserves to this state the right to take prompt and appropriate remedial action
against the other party and its skills test examiners if the other party or its
skills test examiners fail to comply with standards of this state or federal
standards for the testing program or with any other terms of the
contract.

(C)
The director shall enter into an agreement with the department of education
authorizing the skills test specified in this section to be administered by the
department at any location operated by the department for purposes of training
and testing school bus drivers, provided that the agreement between the
director and the department complies with the requirements of division (B) of
this section. Skills tests administered by the department shall be limited to
persons applying for a commercial driver's license with a school bus
endorsement.

(1)
The director shall adopt rules, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised
Code, authorizing waiver of the skills test specified in this section for any
applicant for a commercial driver's license who meets all of the following
requirements:

(a)
As
authorized under 49 C.F.R. 383.3(c), the applicant operates a commercial motor
vehicle for military purposes and is one of the following:

(b)
The applicant certifies that, during the two-year period immediately preceding
application for a commercial driver's license, all of the following apply:

(i)
The applicant has not had more than one license, excluding any military
license.

(ii)
The
applicant has not had any license suspended, revoked, or canceled.

(iii)
The
applicant has not had any convictions for any type of motor vehicle for the
offenses for which disqualification is prescribed in section
4506.16 of the Revised
Code.

(iv)
The
applicant has not had more than one conviction for any type of motor vehicle
for a serious traffic violation.

(v)
The applicant has not had any violation of a state or local law relating to
motor vehicle traffic control other than a parking violation arising in
connection with any traffic accident and has no record of an accident in which
the applicant was at fault.

(c)
In accordance with rules adopted by the director, the applicant certifies and
also provides evidence of all of the following:

(i)
That the applicant is or was regularly employed in a military position
requiring operation of a commercial motor vehicle;

(ii)
That
the applicant was exempt from the requirements of this chapter under division
(B)(6) of section 4506.03 of the Revised
Code;

(iii)
That,
for at least two years immediately preceding the date of application or at
least two years immediately preceding the date the applicant separated from
military service or employment, the applicant regularly operated a vehicle
representative of the commercial motor vehicle type that the applicant operates
or expects to operate.

(2)
The waiver established under division (D)(1) of this section does not apply to
United States reserve technicians.

(1)
The department of public safety may charge and collect a divisible fee of fifty
dollars for each skills test given as part of a commercial driver's license
examination. The fee shall consist of ten dollars for the pre-trip inspection
portion of the test, ten dollars for the off-road maneuvering portion of the
test, and thirty dollars for the on-road portion of the test.

(2)
No applicant is eligible to take the skills test until a minimum of fourteen
days have elapsed since the initial issuance of a commercial driver's license
temporary instruction permit to the applicant. The director may require an
applicant for a commercial driver's license who schedules an appointment with
the highway patrol or other authorized employee of the department of public
safety to take all portions of the skills test and to pay an appointment fee of
fifty dollars at the time of scheduling the appointment. If the applicant
appears at the time and location specified for the appointment and takes all
portions of the skills test during that appointment, the appointment fee serves
as the skills test fee. If the applicant schedules an appointment to take all
portions of the skills test and fails to appear at the time and location
specified for the appointment, the director shall not refund any portion of the
appointment fee. If the applicant schedules an appointment to take all portions
of the skills test and appears at the time and location specified for the
appointment, but declines or is unable to take all portions of the skills test,
the director shall not refund any portion of the appointment fee. If the
applicant cancels a scheduled appointment forty-eight hours or more prior to
the time of the appointment time, the applicant shall not forfeit the
appointment fee.

An applicant for a
commercial driver's license who schedules an appointment to take one or more,
but not all, portions of the skills test is required to pay an appointment fee
equal to the costs of each test scheduled, as prescribed in division (E)(1) of
this section, when scheduling such an appointment. If the applicant appears at
the time and location specified for the appointment and takes all the portions
of the skills test during that appointment that the applicant was scheduled to
take, the appointment fee serves as the skills test fee. If the applicant
schedules an appointment to take one or more, but not all, portions of the
skills test and fails to appear at the time and location specified for the
appointment, the director shall not refund any portion of the appointment fee.
If the applicant schedules an appointment to take one or more, but not all,
portions of the skills test and appears at the time and location specified for
the appointment, but declines or is unable to take all portions of the skills
test that the applicant was scheduled to take, the director shall not refund
any portion of the appointment fee. If the applicant cancels a scheduled
appointment forty-eight hours or more prior to the time of the appointment
time, the applicant shall not forfeit the appointment fee.

(3)
The department of public safety shall deposit all fees it collects under
division (E) of this section in the public safety - highway
purposes fund established in section 4501.06 of the Revised
Code.

(F)
A person
who has successfully completed commercial driver's license training in this
state but seeks a commercial driver's license in another state where the person
is domiciled may schedule an appointment to take the skills test in this state
and shall pay the appropriate appointment fee. Upon the person's completion of
the skills test, this state shall electronically transmit the applicant's
results to the state where the person is domiciled. If a person who is
domiciled in this state takes a skills test in another state, this state shall
accept the results of the skills test from the other state. If the person
passed the other state's skills test and meets all of the other licensing
requirements set forth in this chapter and rules adopted under this chapter,
the registrar of motor vehicles or a deputy registrar shall issue a commercial
driver's license to that person.

(G)
Unless otherwise specified, the director or the director's representative shall
conduct the examinations, inspections, audits, and test monitoring set forth in
divisions (B)(2),(3), and (4) of this section at least annually. If the other
party or any of its skills test examiners fail to comply with state or federal
standards for the skills testing program, the director or the director's
representative shall take prompt and appropriate remedial action against the
party and its skills test examiners. Remedial action may include termination of
the agreement or revocation of a skills test examiner's
certification.

(H)
As used
in this section, "skills test" means a test of an applicant's ability to drive
the type of commercial motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks a commercial
driver's license by having the applicant drive such a motor vehicle while under
the supervision of an authorized state driver's license examiner or
tester.

Amended by
132nd General Assembly File No.
TBD, HB 26, §101.01, eff.
6/30/2017; however, the modifications to provisions of law
requiring the deposit of funds into the Public Safety - Highway Purposes Fund
that are made in this section shall take effect not earlier than July 1,
2017.